fNIRS Monitoring of Infant Prefrontal Cortex During Crawling and an Executive Functioning Task

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive brain imaging technique.
• Measuring blood oxygenation reveals brain activity.
• The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a crucial role in executive functions and cognitive development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate brain activity in the infant prefrontal cortex during locomotion and cognitive tasks.
• To compare brain responses during active crawling versus passive strolling.
• To differentiate neural engagement between active executive function (EF) tasks and passive attention tasks.

Main Methods:

• Utilized fNIRS to measure brain activity in the left prefrontal lobe of 8-14 month-old infants.
• Monitored changes in total hemoglobin and oxygenated hemoglobin (Oxy) relative to baseline.
• Tasks included crawling, being pushed in a stroller, a passive attention task, and an active EF task.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in peak Oxy levels were observed between crawling and strolling.
• Distinct brain activity patterns emerged between the EF task and the passive cognitive task.
• Higher total hemoglobin levels were recorded during the EF task compared to the passive attention task.

Conclusions:

• Infant crawling and active executive function tasks engage the prefrontal cortex.
• fNIRS can detect differential brain activation related to motor and cognitive activities in infants.
• Findings support the role of the PFC in early development of both locomotion and executive functions.